Our Lineage
Our lineage is important to us. We trace our Aikido lineage from Morihei Ueshiba (Ō-Sensei) to Morihiro Saito Shihan, 9th dan, to Hans Goto Shihan, 7th dan, to our current chief instructor, Judith Robinson Sensei, 6th dan.
Morihei Ueshiba
Ō-Sensei. Founder of Aikido
Aikido was created in Japan by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969). Before creating aikido, Uehsiba trained extensively in several varieties of jujitsu and in swordsmanship. Ueshiba also immersed himself in religious studies and developed an ideology devoted to universal socio-political harmony. Incorporating these principles into his martial art, Ueshiba developed many aspects of aikido in concert with his philosophical and religious ideology.
Morihiro Saito Shihan, 9th dan
One of Ō-Sensei’s closest students who spent 23 years as an uchideshi in Iwama. After Ō-Sensei died, Saito Shihan remained at the Iwama dojo where he taught and preserved Ō-Sensei’s aikido.
Hans Goto Shihan, 7th dan
Chief Instructor at Bay Marin Aikido
President of the Takemusu Aikido Association
Hans Goto has over 40 years experience in martial arts. His main focus has been aikido, with extended residential training in Iwama, Japan at the Aikido Shrine under Morihiro Saito Shihan. Goto Sensei is the first non-Japanese citizen to undergo this intensive traditional style training.
Judith Robinson, 6th dan
Chief Instructor at Aikido at the Center
Shidoin
Sensei Judith Robinson has thirty years of experience in the martial arts. She is a student of Hans Goto Shihan, who was an uchideshi at Iwama, Japan, training under Morihiro Saito Shihan, 9th dan. She has also trained with Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, Bill Witt Shihan, Frank Doran Sensei, John Stevens Sensei, and Hiroshi Ikeda Sensei. She holds a sixth-degree black belt in Aikido, a first-degree black belt in Karate and has also studied Wing Chun and Tai Chi. She is a graduate of the Model Mugging Program with certification in both single attacker and weapons disarm. She is a retired protection agent, and member of local R.E.D.